<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>By My Side by Mercyisnotasignofweakness</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29985060">By My Side</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercyisnotasignofweakness/pseuds/Mercyisnotasignofweakness'>Mercyisnotasignofweakness</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Skystar Smut Exchange 2021 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Falling In Love, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Non-Sticky Sexual Interfacing (Transformers), Plug and Play Sexual Interfacing (Transformers), Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Pre-War, Size Difference, Size Kink, Slightly older Skyfire, Spark Sexual Interfacing (Transformers), Tactile Sexual Interfacing (Transformers), Young Starscream</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 17:49:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,808</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29985060</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercyisnotasignofweakness/pseuds/Mercyisnotasignofweakness</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Skyfire offers Starscream something he had never expected. It changes everything for them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jetfire | Skyfire/Starscream (Transformers)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Skystar Smut Exchange 2021 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2211417</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>SkyStar Smut Exchange 2021</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>By My Side</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cybernetika/gifts">Cybernetika</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for the Skystar Smut Exchange 2021 for Starros. They asked for G1 Starscream being "self-conscious about his screechy voice but Skyfire loves it" with Plug 'n Play/ Spark interfacing and bonus Size Kink. </p><p>The story takes place pre-war, so before Skyfire went on ice and Starscream has no idea Megatron exists. This is only my second fic for the TF fandom and I've never written plug 'n play / spark interfacing before. It was a lot of fun getting to experiment with it and I got to play around with some personal headcanons too, which is always nice. :D</p><p>I tried my best to add all of the prompt you gave me. I'm pretty happy with the outcome, even if turned out waaaaaay longer than I expected and became a complete fluff fest. I hope you enjoy the fic despite it tho, Starros :)<br/> </p><p>- Mercy</p><p> </p><p>PS. My first language isn't english and altho this story is betaed you might still find mistakes. My apologies.</p><p>(Title from the song by the same name, linked below.)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> "If I promise you forever, would you still stick around?" </em>
</p><p>
  <a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/1XQkH3XHCu6ayQdvAWHPCf?si=i3hmvC-FRd677Of94SH_ww"> <strong><em> "By My Side"</em> by Andrew Neal</strong></a>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Starscream swings his leg over Skyfire’s, straddling his lap. Knees clamp down on either side of his hips while Starscream’s servos slip up to rest on his broad shoulders. He smirks at Skyfire once he’s settled, his optics set at a low smolder, one that matches the darkening night sky of the alien planet they’ve found themselves on.</p><p>Skyfire strokes the point of a single digit down the long line of Starscream’s back strut, following its bumps and curves. He dips between the seeker’s wings, teasing along the seams where they connect to his shoulders. He keeps the touch feather light, their metal barely connecting while he drinks in the sight of the first few tickles of pleasure making themselves known on Starscream’s face.</p><p>It’s still so new to them, this development. Skyfire has spent many lonely nights imagining just this: having Starscream perched on top of him, his weight pressed against him, shiny plating under his servos and Starscream's optics only shining for Skyfire. His daydreams pale in comparison to the real thing, however. Now Starscream is more than just a phantom frame in the depths of Skyfire’s lonely mind, more than the touch of his own servos bringing him to completion. He is real and running hot, his servos clasped onto the sturdy metal of his shoulders and his voice whispering Skyfire’s name in the quiet of the night.</p><p>Starscream is so responsive, his face a mix of complicated emotions. Skyfire kisses the little O of his mouth and brushes a caress over the glossy surface of his cockpit. He teases the subtle, sensitive edges where the glass connects to his chassis, eagerly moving back so he can see the face Starscream makes when he gasps and releases a careful, little moan.</p><p>Skyfire smiles up at him, his spark throbbing with burning joy. Starscream is a fantastic picture above him and Skyfire can’t stop looking at him. He moves to kiss the side of Starscream’s neck, constantly looking back to capture every expression he makes, even when the seeker tilts his helm to the side to allow Skyfire more space. He takes it greedily, using his blunt dentae to scrape over the sensitive tubing he finds there. He soothes the sting away with his glossa immediately after, using its tapered tip to get between the tubing. If he’s really careful and a little patient, he can taste the faintest hint of Starscream’s protoform beneath it - a sharp, oily taste of metal that stings his glossa in that thrilling way that nothing else can. Starscream clutches at his shoulders when he manages it and presses closer, his cooling fans ticking up to a higher setting.</p><p>Skyfire has to be so careful when he touches Starscream. There’s not a maleficent wire in his frame, but he’s just so much bigger. His servos can close around Starscream’s thighs without problem and his helm is easily double the size of his lover’s. If he weren’t careful at all times he could so easily hurt the smaller mech.</p><p>Being bigger means being stronger. He needs the extra strength to carry around his own weight and his cargo at the same time, but it’s a reality he is constantly aware of: He is a shuttle-class Cybertronian built for intergalactic transportation. He’s the biggest of the biggest frame types there are, reinforced with heavy, thick plating to protect him during atmospheric re-entry. He’s heavy, less maneuverable and will burn most things to a crisp if he’s not careful about where he takes off or lands with his powerful thrusters. If he shakes another mecha’s servo he has to consciously keep from squeezing too hard to not accidentally crumple it in his grip. His chassis is twice the size of Starscream’s and when their lips meet in gentle kisses once again Skyfire is acutely aware of just how easily he could crush his little lover under the bulk of his massive frame. Skyfire is used to being huge, though. Used to being the biggest mech in any room, always watching where he walks and making sure to barely use a fraction of his strength when picking up things. He has had this frame his entire life and has never known a time where he didn’t have to be careful of those around him.</p><p>There’s just something about being so close with Starscream now that reiterates how completely he could destroy the little seeker if he weren’t controlling every single one of his movements. Seeing his own huge servos stroke over Starscream’s slender frame, knowing what they could do if Skyfire lost control. It terrifies him if he lingers on the thought for too long. It isn’t because Starscream is fragile in comparison to him, of course - mass-produced seekers are built for the military, meant to have endurance and stability as much as a shuttle is - but he <em> is </em>that much smaller than Skyfire. His slight frame gives him an undeniable edge in the air, one Skyfire has often admired when Starscream indulges his base coding. There’s nothing quite like watching the seeker do loops around him when they take flight together, hearing the powerful thrum of his jet engines split the air when he shoots past Skyfire too fast to catch more than a glimpse of him. If he tries, Skyfire can still hear the phantom scream of Starscream’s engines as he tears across the sky. He shudders, his frame heating at the memory. Starscream is <em> beautiful </em> in the air, but his edge means his plating is thinner than Skyfire’s. He weighs less and has more delicate components hiding just beneath his plating to make him able to do all the amazing things he can. One careless touch, <em> one </em> thoughtless moment and Skyfire could hurt him irrevocably.</p><p>The seeker in question hums a noise deep in his chassis, pulling Skyfire from where he had gotten lost in his thoughts. He refocuses on Starscream’s face and gives him an apologetic smile.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Skyfire tells him. “Got lost in thought.”</p><p>“Mmh, good thoughts?” Starscream asks him, a wicked little smile playing on his lips as he strokes a clawed digit teasingly along the seam between Skyfire’s arm and chassis.</p><p>“The best,” Skyfire answers, leaving it at that. Whatever fears Skyfire has, they are his own to handle.</p><p>He draws Starscream nearer with a servo at the back of his neck before he can ask more questions. Starscream huffs a small laugh against his lips like he can hear Skyfire’s thoughts, but he comes willingly despite it, licking into Skyfire’s mouth to dominate their kiss.</p><p>There’s no room for error, Skyfire thinks as he tastes the seeker’s glossa against his own. Intimacy is an intriguing puzzle to figure out when they are so different from one another but it’s one he’s not a stranger to. He knows his digits are far too large to find and tease the sensitive wires between Starscream’s armor, so typical tactile stimulation isn’t an option for him. Skyfire can’t lean into Starscream too much either for the risk of denting and damaging him and they can’t truly get lost in each other without risking more than Skyfire is willing to. Yet, despite all the things making it hard, they have still managed to find a way, together.</p><p>Starscream has no trouble getting beneath Skyfire’s thick armor though. Skyfire can barely feel his outer armor when it gets touched, so while it’s thrilling to see Starscream’s claws teasingly trace the lines of it, Skyfire can’t feel anything. There’s no use for a sense of physical touch when his outer plating is meant to withstand bursting into flame when he shoots through a planet’s atmosphere. It would only cause unnecessary and distracting pain and so Skyfire’s designers had seen no reason to give him that upgrade. It was a fact Starscream had seen as an almost personal offense the first time they had come together like this. That’s how they figured out that Starscream can find his way beneath it easily. His servos are just slim enough to slip past some of the larger gaps and now he uses the pointed tips of his claws to reach the clusters of nerve wires that hide deep underneath.</p><p>Starscream carefully plucks at Skyfire’s inner parts, wires and plating that have almost too much feeling compared to their outer counterparts. He keeps the touches fluttering and brief and watches Skyfire’s face as attentively as Skyfire watches his, looking for any sign of discomfort.</p><p>There’s absolutely no apprehension in Skyfire’s spark, no fear at having such sharp claws near his vital parts. He can feel how careful Starscream is being, how slowly he moves. He trusts Starscream, even when he ends up stroking one of the thicker wires that run electrical charge from Skyfire’s spark to the rest of his frame. One nick of claws to that wire, and Skyfire will be in serious trouble. Out here there are no surgeons to reconnect his spark wire or repair damages to its delicate optical fibers, and yet he lets Starscream run his digits over it again and again, never afraid.</p><p>He twitches at the strong zap of sensation it causes and Starscream stills his servo immediately, watching with rapt attention as Skyfire shakes through the powerful experience. His system hiccups in its attempt to keep up with all the feedback it’s receiving, the signals confusing his processor. He’s not meant to have something so vital touched, but his processor has to interpret it somehow. For Skyfire, the gentle strokes translate into intense, strong waves of pleasure that cascades through his entire frame. He shakes with effort, trying to keep himself from pulling Starscream into a crushing hug to get more of the feeling.</p><p>“Please,” he begs against the side of Starscream’s face once the sensations have faded, feeling a little desperate at the sudden lack of sensation within him. Starscream smiles again, gaze softening and he strokes his little digits over less sensitive parts than before to ease him back into the feeling.</p><p>Skyfire releases a heavy gush of hot air from his frontal vents, his optics shuttering at the bliss rocking through his frame. He can feel the charge gather in his system slowly, a tension in his joints and a buzz around his spark that teases him with the hint of the overload that’s building.</p><p>It’s wonderful feeling Starscream so close, but Skyfire wants so, so much more.</p><p>“What do you need?” Starscream asks calmly when he sees Skyfire bite his lip to keep his desires from spilling past it. He holds himself almost regally above Skyfire, his smirk still wide and confidant. Behind him the deep red of the alien sunset bleeds into the black night sky full of shimmering stars. They paint a glowing halo around his seeker and makes him seem almost ethereal.</p><p>Skyfire is left breathless. Starscream has never been more beautiful.</p><p>“You,” he answers in a hushed whisper, unable to tear his optics away from the spectacular sight.</p><p>“You have me already, silly shuttle,” Starscream tells him, his smirk softening. He strokes his free servo down Skyfire’s cheek, tracing the edge around big, blue optics. A thousand emotions swell within Skyfire at the words, pressing against his intake. He can’t do anything but gaze at this beautiful mech, wondering how he got lucky enough to be here with him.</p><p>Starscream’s lips feel scorching when he brushes them over Skyfire’s and he kisses back hungrily, wishing they could be even closer than they are. Starscream groans quietly in the back of his throat, the noise barely registering. Skyfire pulls him closer, desperate to hear more.</p><p>It has been centuries since they met and many decades since the first fragile flickers of love ignited in Skyfire’s spark. He can still be surprised at just how<em> much </em> he can feel for this mech. Exasperation, sometimes even anger, awe, joy, <em> love. </em>It all overwhelms him now, a tidal wave of emotion that fills his spark until it feels like it will burst. It grows and grows until it sits as a tight orb at his center and the only thing he can do to express it is capture Starscream’s face between gentle servos and pull him into another kiss.</p><p>They shouldn’t fit together like this, but somehow they do. Starscream opens up to him immediately, red optics flickering off at the first touch. It doesn’t feel awkward or wrong to coax the other’s mouth open and fit their lips together. It feels right, perfect, like they were supposed to be doing this all along.</p><p>Skyfire moans against Starscream’s mouth and lets him take control again, loving the way Starscream carefully extracts his servo from beneath his armor just so he can grab onto Skyfire’s wrists instead. He presses himself into Skyfire’s embrace, more little noises escaping his vocalizer when Skyfire’s large arms closes around his back to hold him close. They make Skyfire dream for just a brief moment, that perhaps what he’s feeling isn’t completely unrequited.</p><p>“Please,” Skyfire repeats in a soft murmur.</p><p>“Tell me what you want,” Starscream responds immediately. He peppers more kisses over Skyfire’s lips and cheeks, like he can’t stop again. Both actions of tender care have Skyfire’s spark swelling again.</p><p>“I… I want to give you my spark,” he admits quietly, stroking his servos down over Starscream’s shoulders as he reveals one of those secret desires he has held close for so long. “If you’ll have it.”</p><p>The words have Starscream freezing immediately, his optics going wide with shock. Skyfire hurries to shake his helm when he sees fear and apprehension in them, pressing a kiss to Starscream’s lips to reassure him.</p><p>“No,” he explains gently. “I’m not expecting yours in return. I’d be happy if you’d just <em> see </em> me. I’ve… I’ve wanted you to for a long time.”</p><p>Momentarily reassured Starscream licks his lips, his optics darting away. Skyfire lets him have a moment to process what he said, patiently waiting for the answer he knows isn't easy to find. While he waits he keeps up the gentle caresses, petting Starscream’s sides and back, even running a few digits over his wings again when they start twitching.</p><p>Skyfire can’t help it, he just loves touching Starscream and having him close. He loves the hum of his frame, the gentle vibration of his spark beat pulsating beneath his armor. Skyfire’s servos are full of sensors, an upgrade he paid good shanix for in order to make his life as a scientist easier. With them it is so easy to feel the rapid flutter of Starscream’s spark when he runs his thumb over the center of his chassis. He can feel how rattled his request has made the seeker.</p><p>Skyfire understands. It is a huge thing to ask of someone and not something one just does with a casual interfacing partner. It <em> means </em> something, and for some mecha, that ‘something’ is too overwhelming to even consider.</p><p>But Starscream <em> is </em>considering it. That is a good sign.</p><p>“Are you sure?” Starscream asks after a moment. He looks back almost shyly and Skyfire smiles at him softly. It’s such an unusual look on Starscream’s face. Skyfire nods, completely sure of his decision. He really, really wants this.</p><p>“I want to give you my spark,” he repeats without a hint of doubt. Now that the words are out, they have never felt truer. “I trust you.”</p><p>“Maybe you shouldn’t,” Starscream says, optics darting away, as if to check their surroundings. Of course they are the only people here. “You don’t know what things I hide from you.”</p><p>“I trust you,” Skyfire just simply repeats.</p><p>“I was constructed to be a<em> killer</em>,” Starscream snaps at him harshly, as if trying to dissuade him. He lifts a servo and curls his digits until his claws point towards each other. His lips part in a sneer, his fangs flashing in the blue light of Skyfire’s optics - all planned, to make himself look as dangerous as possible, Skyfire knows. “My frame, my servos, my fangs, my processor, even my <em> voice</em>, all of it sculpted to make it easy for me to take life, shaped to cause <em> pain</em>. What makes you think I can be trusted with your <em> spark?”</em></p><p>Skyfire considers him for a moment, cautiously aware that there’s more reasons hiding behind Starscream’s protests than just those he airs.</p><p>He slips a servo from Starscream’s side up to grasp the one he’s holding in front of their faces. Ever so gently, Skyfire coaxes it to uncurl against his center of his palm. The tips of Starscream’s digits can barely touch the base of Skyfire’s like this. How can Starscream not know that Skyfire too could hurt him so easily too, by just closing his servo now and not holding his strength back?</p><p>But he can’t use that as an excuse, he knows that. Starscream will never accept that as a valid comparison or reason.</p><p>“Your frame is just a vessel,” Skyfire begins carefully, running the tip of a thick digit over the sharp edge of Starscream’s thin claws. “You didn’t have a choice in how you were made, just like I didn’t either. Why would I consider the vision of some privileged high caste designer to be the truth of who you are?” He lets that question linger for a few moments, lifting the captured servo to his mouth to press a kiss to its back.</p><p>Starscream just watches him and says nothing, like he knows Skyfire has more he wants to say.</p><p>“Your processor is magnificent,” he continues with a smile, “true proof that even the manufactured are not limited by the function they were made for. You have transcended expectations from the first moment you came online and even managed to teach <em> me </em> that my own prejudices were wrong. I’ve followed you through your whole academic career in awe of what you could accomplish with sheer determination. I’ve watched you tear down the old world’s class constructs and outdated social norms to get what you desired, prying it from the greedy, rusted servos of the ancient mecha who've been in power for too long to have any empathy left. I’ve seen you face impossible odds, unimaginable cruelty, and unfair discrimination for simply having a pair of wings. I’ve felt hope surging within myself at seeing you succeed where I nearly failed because of my gentle nature. You were the one that got us the funding to be here right now, out in the universe discovering new things together. You’ve inspired me a thousand times over with your tenacity and strength, but not once have I seen you hurt anyone who made it easy for you to do so. Quite opposite, I’ve watched you ignore opportunities when they presented themselves and while you might have wished to exploit them, <em> you never did. </em> And I <em> like </em> your voice. I think it’s beautiful.”</p><p>Skyfire pokes a digit under Starscream’s chin, lifting it until their optics meet again. “Your frame doesn’t dictate what kind of mech you are, Starscream. Desires don’t tell the true story of the shape of your spark. Actions are who you truly are, and yours speak so loudly,” he says and just keeps smiling at the shock that grows on Starscream’s face at his words.</p><p>“I’ve seen what you are capable of and I’m no stranger to the cruelties your makers constructed you to commit. The fact that you have never indulged in those desires and that you rejected the function that would have made you a slave to them despite how hard it is to fight against your very nature tells me you’d never dream of hurting me if I give you no reason to. It makes it <em> easy </em> to trust you. I want to give you my spark because I know you’d cherish it,” he finishes.</p><p>There’s a long moment of intense quiet where Skyfire’s words settle between them like heavy machine frames. He’s not ashamed of the thick affection strung through them, but he is acutely aware that he has never showed it so obviously before. It’s a risk but Skyfire is steadfast in his love. He is okay with feeling like he does, wouldn’t be without it even if he could and if Starscream rejects him now it will hurt terribly, but he will still not wish to take those words back. It’s about time someone told Starscream how incredible he is and Skyfire is proud to have been the one to make the clever-glossaed seeker speechless, if only for a moment.</p><p>The judgement comes in the form of the vents at the front Starscream’s chassis releasing a rush of scolding air.</p><p>“You’re a sentimental fool,” Starscream tells him finally, his shoulders slumping and his wings lowering to a more neutral position. A fragile smile grows but it has Skyfire’s spark fluttering inside him.</p><p>Skyfire laughs warmly, relief coursing through him. “True,” he agrees with a nod. “I guess you bring out the worst in me.”</p><p>“Others certainly thought I did,” he says. His mouth tightens for a brief moment as he considers something. “But you are wrong. It is not your worst quality.”</p><p>“No?”</p><p>“No,” he simply responds. There’s no elaboration, but that’s not uncommon with Starscream. He’s not one to speak before he’s certain about his opinions and Skyfire guesses this is something Starscream will need time to process before they can discuss it in more depth. That’s fine though. Skyfire will gladly wait for him to be ready.</p><p>They sit together in silence for a little while, both idly caressing the other while they cycle through their own thoughts.</p><p>“If you want to share your spark with me I’d be honored,” Starscream finally decides a bit later, stroking a servo over the transformation seam at the center of Skyfire’s chassis. He sounds like he still can’t quite believe it. Skyfire covers his servo with his own and gives him a smiling nod to let him know it’s still an offer. It makes Starscream lean in and give him a lingering kiss.</p><p>“I’ll take good care of you,” he promises.</p><p>“I know you will,” Skyfire says, not doubting that for a second.</p><p>It’s been a long time since he exposed himself for anyone who isn’t his medic and while he trusts Starscream, it’s still a big moment for him. He draws their joined servos away from his chassis before he sends the command to transform it away.</p><p>He goes slowly, letting the thick outer layer of reinforced, heat-safe armor fold back first. It only exposes spaces Starscream has already seen during their intimate moments together, so this is nothing new. Starscream watches the process quietly, his optics tracing every millimeter of inner space that is revealed to him. Skyfire’s interfacing array sits deeply at the center of his chassis, inlaid into the additional protective plating that keeps his most vulnerable parts protected.</p><p>When Skyfire retracts the next set of plating to expose his spark chamber, Starscream’s optics widen just a little like he really hadn’t expected it to happen.</p><p>Skyfire keeps his crystal closed for now, but unspools the interfacing jack from its housing to offer it to Starscream. He wants to be able to feel Starscream’s reaction when he sees his spark for the first time, want to experience it with him.</p><p>“Please?” he asks, holding the jack out to the seeker.</p><p>Starscream accepts it gingerly, like Skyfire has offered him more than just a jack for interfacing. His own chassis splits down the middle, pushing his cockpit lower to free the space above his spark. As the plating folds back it reveals his own array. Starscream doesn’t have the extra layer of plating like Skyfire since he wasn’t built for intergalactic travel, so his chamber sits right above his array. Its crystal stays firmly shut, letting not even a single ray of light out, but Skyfire hadn’t expected anything else.</p><p>Starscream’s array has multiple input ports and two jacks where Skyfire’s only has one of each. It had fascinated him the first time he saw it. He knew seekers were built to be trined up and grew incredibly close because of the basic nature they have been coded with. There is safety in numbers for them and trines represent everything from advantages on a battlefield to the safety of deep, emotional bonds between mates. Skyfire has never questioned Starscream’s choice to not take a trine, but he has always wondered. He can’t help but do so now too. He still knows so little about how seekers work, despite having known Starscream for centuries. Perhaps someday he will be able to ask about it without the topic being immediately shut down.</p><p>Starscream slips Skyfire’s jack into a port in his array without hesitation and quickly reciprocates the connection by plugging himself into Skyfire’s array too. The way he does it is almost clinical, but Skyfire can read beneath the mask of indifference the seeker keeps up. He sees the tremors of Starscream’s servos and the nervous way his optics flicker up as if to check Skyfire’s reaction to the action.</p><p>Skyfire just smiles at him and kisses his forehelm to reassure him. He’s sure this is what he wants, even if he feels incredibly nervous about it.</p><p>It only takes another moment before Skyfire feels Starscream lower his firewalls and invite him in.</p><p>Skyfire’s experience when interfacing with others is that every mecha is unique. His previous lovers all felt vastly different from each other at least, and Starscream is no exception. When Skyfire completes the initiation of their connection and they slip into each other, Starscream’s unique presence floods into him.</p><p>To Skyfire, Starscream feels like a powerful storm. Like strong wind currents pushing against his wings. Starscream is the immense power of a geomagnetic storm beating against Skyfire’s frame when he travels through space, and his unending endurance is the unrelenting gravity of a black hole urging everything to enter its orbit. It’s overwhelming and alluring and <em> wonderful</em>. Skyfire can’t look away from the incredible singularity that hides at his center, a bright speck of unimaginable light that can’t be described in any of the two hundred and thirty-four languages and dialects that Skyfire can speak.</p><p>Starscream’s greeting is a brush of intent against the walls in Skyfire’s mind. Skyfire’s firewalls fall easily before him and he immediately meets Starscream’s unrelenting power with the waves of his own calm intensity. Where Starscream is a tornado of energy, Skyfire is an ocean of steadfast conviction. He rests in himself and his own strengths, never faltering or doubting what he has accomplished. His waves are manifestations of his gentle nature, lapping against the shores of the unknown territories in Starscream’s mind and while his darker depths are mostly full of mystery and strange beauty, there lurks a danger beneath the surface too. A set of beliefs that are unwavering, as well as a fierce protective strength that will drown anything that threatens those Skyfire deems worthy of his protection. He loves life itself and it manifests in a soothing heat from a sun casting its light over his ocean, while his scientific curiosity and fascination with the creation of life are the critters that live beneath his waves, always moving, always curiously examining their world.</p><p>They fall into a kiss once their connection solidifies, almost instinctively. Whoever feels the desire first, it’s immediately felt and reciprocated by the other. They kiss slowly, taking their time to really feel their minds slipping into each other. There’s nothing here that will interrupt them, no judgement, no close-minded scholars telling them they’re disgusting and wrong for sharing themselves with someone outside their function and class. Here they can just enjoy being together and they linger joyfully in that knowledge, lips connected in a constant caress.</p><p>Starscream’s frame has always run hotter than Skyfire’s, the energy he builds harder to lose for him. He shares it now, pushing little waves of charge through their jacks to help Skyfire return to the shimmering arousal he had before their pause. Skyfire feels it as a slight tickle at first, slipping teasingly along his circuits and heating his frame. It quickly grows to a crackling fire of pleasure that slips through the wires Starscream has returned to stroking with expert digits.</p><p>He can feel his own digits and the pleasure that spreads from their gentle pressure against Starscream’s plating, as if he were Starscream himself. He feels the swell of <em> want </em> roaring to life within the seeker when Skyfire licks over the air intakes to Starscream’s turbines and he repeats it again and again just to feel the seeker writhe in pleasure over him.</p><p>Their mental connection is deeper than usual this time. They’ve instinctively bared more of themselves than mecha usually do with casual lovers without uttering a word to each other about it, but Skyfire can’t find any part of himself that protests it. Diving deep into Starscream’s presence feels <em> right. </em> He loves feeling Starscream slip beneath the layers of his own processor, loves the feeling of how he curiously searches through Skyfire’s emotions and secret desires. They can’t hear each other’s thoughts, not like this, but whatever Starscream feels from him, his reaction to it fills their connection with heat and desire.</p><p>Small servos continue their exploration while Skyfire himself continues to lather loving attention all over Starscream’s frame. He pays particular attention to the edges of his wings, knowing they are full of sensitive areas when he’s in his root form. Like Skyfire’s own wings they are littered with sensory equipment that helps track air pressure and currents when in altmode. In altmode the feeling is dulled and registers as nothing more than pressure, but in root mode all those sensors get rewired in a way that sends feedback of pleasure when touched. He uses that knowledge to tease Starscream until he has the little mech panting heavily and his fans whirring loudly.</p><p>Starscream is a quiet lover and that is nothing new. He doesn’t moan loudly or speak much, but Skyfire has learned to read his expressions and the set of his wings. This time though, there’s something different. It’s something Skyfire can sense in the depth of their connection, something that he couldn’t in the shallower connections they’ve shared in the past.</p><p>There’s a wall between them, thick and hidden behind heavy fog, like Starscream has purposely tried to obscure it. Skyfire can feel how much effort Starscream puts into maintaining it and he deliberately strokes over his aileron to distract him from it. Starscream’s fans hitch at the sharp ping of pleasure that shoots through him. Skyfire tracks it through their connection, noticing exactly how much Starscream curls his attention around the wall in his mind even as his frame buzzes wildly with charge.</p><p>Skyfire frowns a little, concerned at the action. Whatever is behind that wall, it’s keeping Starscream from experiencing the true depths of their mutual pleasure. Why would he keep himself from enjoying this fully?</p><p>Skyfire nudges the wall softly, brushing his questioning wonder against Starscream’s presence in his mind. He’s surprised when shame immediately rushes towards him in response. It’s only a split-second and then Starscream snatches it back and quickly hides it behind the wall.</p><p>He starts shaking and his digits stroke Skyfire’s wires with more intent, like he wants to cover up the moment of weakness.</p><p>“Star,” Skyfire whispers against his cheek. “You don’t have to be afraid.” He reinforces his words with waves of calm, honest admiration. He doesn’t try to hide the warmth that slips through too, the little shiver of love centered around his spark, but he thinks that Starscream can’t possibly be in the dark about Skyfire’s true feelings for him anymore. He’s not scared to show him that, not when he still wants to share his spark with Starscream so badly.</p><p>It takes a little bit of coaxing and soft, reassuring hums before Starscream lets the walls soften just a little. Skyfire keeps their connection filled with calm patience, smiling at the seeker when his servos slow and the teasing touches stop coming. Skyfire understands the stubborn need to keep something private, so he doesn’t pry any more than he already has. He knows that he has lived a privileged life. In his early centuries emotion wasn’t something he had to hide when around other shuttles. He had friends and lovers, people that guided him from the first moment he came online and who taught him everything he needed to know to navigate a world that seemed too big, even for someone as huge as him. Starscream was not that lucky. He was brought into life in a cold warehouse and his training consisted of learning how to obey orders and effectively extinguish sparks.</p><p>A soldier has no need for deep emotions.</p><p>Skyfire presses a row of kisses down over Starscream’s cheek, spark aching for him and all the experiences he never got as a newspark.</p><p>“Whatever you are afraid of, you are safe with me,” Skyfire reminds him, voice soft.</p><p>Starscream huffs and turns away. His servos slip away from Skyfire’s sensitive, bared chest to the thick plating of his hips instead. “It’s stupid,” he mutters.</p><p>“I doubt that,” Skyfire responds kindly. “But if it is important for you to hide it, then I won’t ask. I just wanted to remind you that you’re safe with me.”</p><p>Starscream clearly hesitates, weighing his options. It’s hard not to let his curiosity take over, but Skyfire forces himself to let it go. He keeps up the gentle petting of Starscream’s lower back and wings and kisses the side of his helm again, just because he can.</p><p>It’s still baffling to him that he gets to have Starscream close like this. Back on Cybertron where Starscream had been a young, fresh graduate and Skyfire had taken him under his metaphorical wing to help him get tenure, he had never expected their relationship to reach these heights. When Skyfire had slowly fallen in love with Starscream’s passionate spark and ferocious intelligence, he’d let himself feel content with loving the seeker from afar. And when Starscream had kissed him for the first time in the chaos of a new discovery, both their sparks bursting with eager excitement at their breakthrough, Skyfire had told himself that he’d savor every moment he could steal and be satisfied with just that.</p><p>Now, here he is. Starscream is his lap and their systems intertwined nearly as intimately as they can be, their consciousnesses flowing freely between them, slowly beating in rhythm with their sparks.</p><p>His swells with untamed affection when he feels Starscream’s hesitation fade and the wall starts to crumble. It doesn’t fall completely, but Starscream is opening it up just enough to let Skyfire peek over the edge.</p><p>He sees the shame Starscream is hiding immediately.</p><p>His voice. He’s embarrassed about it. Skyfire feels the burning shame slam into him and dig beneath his armor, worming into his spark. Something so wonderful is Starscream’s greatest shame and Skyfire wants to weep. There are flashes of memories that rush past too fast for Skyfire to really grasp them. It’s a colorful blur of sound and pictures. He sees snapshots of winged mecha laughing, amused glances thrown towards Starscream, red optics judging his every step. Cruel words and even crueler nicknames born from intimate encounters that should only have left the seeker with satisfaction and happiness, but instead had him walking away in shame.</p><p>Starscream has been mocked for something he can’t control and the result was him hiding away a part of himself.</p><p>“Oh Star,” Skyfire exvents sadly. “The universe has been so unfair to you.”</p><p>Starscream goes ramrod stiff immediately. He leans out of Skyfire’s embrace, his face painted with fury. “I don’t need your <em> pity </em>,” Starscream snaps.</p><p>“And you won’t get it,” Skyfire responds quickly, opening himself up further to let the other investigate. Starscream can <em> see </em> his honesty this way, can see how Skyfire <em> understands </em> and that he’s <em> angry </em>at the seekers that caused Starscream so much pain.</p><p>“Your voice is beautiful to me,” Skyfire tells him, voice, spark and their connection humming with his sincerity.</p><p>“You’ve never heard it like this,” Starscream insists, shaking his helm. “It’ <em> screechy</em>.”</p><p>“That’s true,” Skyfire agrees easily, because he <em> has </em> heard Starscream angry more times than he can count. His voice can definitely get to pitches that shouldn’t be possible without his voice box shorting out and yet every time it happens Starscream is just fine. “But I’ve never found anything else about you repulsive. Why would this be any different?”</p><p>Starscream doesn’t seem to have an answer for that. Skyfire just smiles at the gob smacked expression he suddenly wears and kisses him again, stroking a thumb over his cheek.</p><p>“You are free to decide what you wish to share with me,” he reminds Starscream quietly, letting his intent to continue what they had paused flow through their connection. “Like I do too.”</p><p>His spark surges with nervous excitement when he sends the command to retract his crystal casing. He does it slowly, to give Starscream time to react and pull away if he wants to. It’s an overwhelming thing to share a spark, even if it’s not your own and Skyfire is aware of that.</p><p>At the first flicker of light escaping Skyfire’s center, Starscream is enraptured. His optics stay glued to the pulsating, blue ball of energy that appears behind the dark crystal plating that protects it. The crystal walls split and slip around the orb to vanish behind it.</p><p>Once the bright, brilliant light of his spark illuminates the darkness around them, he waits for Starscream’s reaction. He can feel the wonder and awe through their connection, momentarily halting the charge they’d been growing between them and he nervously watches every little reaction Starscream has, latching onto every feeling that flows between them. He has only done this with one other mecha before, long ago when Skyfire was still a very young mech. It still feels as nerve wracking and thrilling as it did back then.</p><p>He wishes he could hear Starscream’s thoughts. What is he thinking? Skyfire knows he’s far from the brightest spark, that his large size means his spark is constantly a little strained. It’s not uncommon for shuttles and not anything dangerous, his medics have assured him of that. He also knows an old betrayal has left a scar within him, a flicker of dark shadows near his center. He just hopes that his positivity, curiosity, and kindness make him beautiful enough for Starscream to accept.</p><p>“Of course you are beautiful!” Starscream exclaims suddenly and only then Skyfire remembers how he’s leaking near everything through their connection to the seeker in an attempt to reassure him. It surprises him at first how completely he has let the other into his innermost feelings. Then he realizes that he doesn’t care. Starscream feels <em> right </em> in here, circling around Skyfire’s most fragile pieces.</p><p>“I’m glad you think so,” he says shyly, helm ducking. He sees himself smiling through Starscream more than he feels it himself and feels a surge of affection he’s convinced isn’t his own. He gets a little lost trying to chase the affection when fresh waves of charge suddenly flood him.</p><p>Starscream grins at him when he looks up.</p><p>“Can I touch you?” the seeker asks. He lifts a servo to hover over the spark, waiting for permission.</p><p>“Please do,” Skyfire replies eagerly, too excited to be embarrassed about how easily Starscream can feel it all through him. He had never thought Starscream would even think about <em> touching him </em> and now that it has been offered Skyfire <em> wants </em> so badly. “I really, <em> really </em> want you to.”</p><p>The first touch is careful, just the tip of a claw scraping softly along the edges of Skyfire’s crystal casing. Even that simple touch has Skyfire’s fans hitching immediately, stealing his breath away. He had forgotten how powerful spark interfacing can be and for a moment he’s blown away by the reaction from his frame. It shakes with the intense feedback that rocks through it and he moans deeply, helm tilting back. He shutters his optics to sink into the feeling, arms tightening around Starscream’s back to encourage him to do it again.</p><p>“Please, <em> please,” </em>he begs.</p><p>The touch is overwhelming, but in a strange, good way. Starscream grows a little more confident when he feels no pain or fear in their connection and eases a few digits over the surface of the spark, only barely brushing the swirling tendrils of energy that rise to curl around his servo.</p><p>Skyfire is reduced to pure sensation faster than he can process. His mind whites out and there is only the mild pressure against his spark and the confusing signals of intense pleasure that shoot through him, echoing through their connection. He feels Starscream curl around him, both in frame and mind, his presence holding him close. Skyfire feels so safe and cherished and he pushes it all towards his lover, eagerly sharing the euphoria he’s experiencing.</p><p>He hears his moans echoed by Starscream as he climbs rapidly towards his peak. He can’t find a moment to feel proud at how Starscream isn’t hiding himself any more, even if his moans are quiet and careful. He’s <em> trying </em>and that’s wonderful. Skyfire really wishes he could tell him so, but the charge continues to flow between them and Starscream is rocking against Skyfire’s frame to generate more through touch. Skyfire loses the ability to coordinate his servos properly and eventually just gives up on trying, instead focusing on the waves of intense pleasure that rocks through him.</p><p>They’re together in the pleasure, his becoming Starscream’s and Starscream’s becoming his. They bleed together until Skyfire is the servo that touches his own spark and Starscream is the one crying out when he presses a tender kiss to its very center.</p><p>Their voices rise together in the quiet night, echoing towards the stars. Skyfire overloads with Starscream’s name falling from his lips in an endless prayer, his frame trembling under the feedback loop of pleasure between them. He feels Starscream follow him over the edge, unable to withstand the flow of charge that brings Skyfire to his own completion.</p><p>Once the charge fades from their systems and they can once again tell each other apart, he turns his helm to check on Starscream. He has ended up on his back in the teal colored, waxy grass, the spread of stars stretched out above them. Starscream is still safe in his arms, sprawled out on top of him.</p><p>Skyfire smiles softly at the blissed look on the seeker’s face and feels proud at having been the cause of the expression. His chassis is still open and his spark exposed, but he feels no need to hide himself away just yet. He’s content with just watching Starscream and the flickers of his own spark light as it comes down from the overload as it passes over the seeker’s face. He's just <em>so </em> <em>beautiful.</em></p><p>Starscream stirs soon enough, coming to slowly. It’s just the sensation of a mild breeze slipping over Skyfire’s mind in a gentle caress at first, before it grows stronger once more. Skyfire just keeps stroking a servo up and down his back, easing Starscream back into the feeling of his own frame.</p><p>He watches quietly as Starscream reorients himself and checks their still open chassis’, noticing their cables still connecting them to each other. The realization is a roll of thunder through their mental connection, one Skyfire eases with the feeling of sea foam and warm waters.</p><p>Connections such as these are intense, even for someone with plenty of experience. Even Skyfire isn’t immune to the deep-seated exhaustion that comes from such a good spark overload, and so he gently coaxes Starscream off his chassis so they can lie side by side in the grass.</p><p>He eases Starscream’s jack out of himself first to give him some privacy to collect his thoughts and helps return it to its housing before he removes his own from Starscream. Once they’re separated and Starscream’s plating has closed over his chassis once again, Skyfire bends to press a soft kiss to the center of it. The gesture is brimming with the bright affection he’s still so full of. Starscream pets his helm while he does it, like he can feel how overwhelmed by love Skyfire is right now.</p><p>“That was…” Starscream begins slowly, his voice hoarse.</p><p>“Yes,” Skyfire says quietly. He nudges Starscream’s chin with his nose and kisses him when he turns. It’s slow and lazy, so unlike their previous kisses, but with both their fans working desperately to dispel all the heat they’ve created and with the edge of exhaustion making his optical shutters feel heavy, Skyfire thinks it might be the best kiss he has ever had.</p><p>“I can’t… I can’t share myself like that yet,” Starscream says with some difficulty. He looks uncertain when they part, like he’s scared of Skyfire’s reaction.</p><p>Skyfire cups his cheek and sees his spark’s light brighten Starscream’s face. “I don’t expect you to,” Skyfire reminds him. “It was never about getting something in return.”</p><p>“Then why take the risk?” Starscream asks, like he genuinely can’t understand.</p><p>“Because you are worth it,” Skyfire just simply answers because there’s no other reason that matters.</p><p>Starscream rushes to press their lips back together again, his servos clutching at the sides of Skyfire’s helm. He pushes at Skyfire until he rolls over on his back again and Starscream can climb back to claim his place on top of him. There are fangs nibbling at his lips and a cool cockpit pushing against his spark. If it hadn’t been for the mind-blowing overload he had just experienced, Skyfire might have done more than just moan softly at the feeling.</p><p>Starscream pulls back as if startled and looks down. Rediscovering the bared spark seems to surprise him and cause as much awe as it did at first. He lowers a servo and cups the side of it, not quite touching. Skyfire lets him look.</p><p>“What if I can’t ever trust you enough for it?” he asks. He glances up, expression carefully controlled to show nothing.</p><p>“Then you won’t ever show me your spark,” Skyfire answers easily. He really doesn’t mind the thought of that, he thinks. Starscream comes from a much darker place, where individuality is hard-fought for and intimacy is only supposed to be shared between him and the two other seekers that should have become his everything. Skyfire can’t ever give him a connection like trinemates can and he knew that long before he decided he wanted to share his spark with Starscream. He doesn’t ever want to come between the seeker and whatever will make him happy and so if the day comes where Starscream decides to go search for the completion only another seeker can give him, Skyfire will let him go.</p><p>“How can you love me this much?” Starscream asks. His servo trembles over Skyfire’s spark. “How can you trust me more than I trust myself?”</p><p>“I don’t know,” Skyfire answers him quietly. “Not entirely. I just know that I do and that my love is not conditional. It doesn’t require yours in return to exist. It simply <em> is. </em>”</p><p>“I don’t know if I can handle something so…” He falters, searching for the right words.</p><p>“Intense?” Skyfire offers. Starscream nods. “It’s okay if you can’t. I’m offering and you can say no. You can say no whenever you want. Now or in a hundred thousand years, it doesn’t matter to me.”</p><p>“You’ll be hurt,” Starscream warns him.</p><p>“Maybe. I have been before,” Skyfire says.</p><p>He sees realization dawn on the seeker. His optics dip down to look at Skyfire’s spark again. “The shadow,” he says slowly.</p><p>“Someone I once knew and lost,” Skyfire confirms. “We weren’t conjunx, but it was very close. My love for him is still there. See?” He points to the flicker of light brushing up against the scarred shadows of grief and loss, a flicker of bright white that still burns for his old flame. It is more noticeable when he lets himself remember, he knows that, and the presence is quickly replaced by the new inferno that burns for only Starscream.</p><p>The seeker looks up at him again, face pulled into a familiar expression of thoughtfulness.</p><p>“You’re a mystery,” Starscream says.</p><p>Skyfire laughs and decides to take it as a compliment. “Thank you.”</p><p>His response makes Starscream roll his optics at him. “Fool,” he says fondly.</p><p>“Hot helm,” Skyfire returns easily, his smile growing wider. He has always loved this easy banter, that he didn’t have to be so careful about what he said to Starscream because he will give as good as he gets. Skyfire hated being told to be quiet when he lived his old life, hated being treated as just a big dumb drone, someone only meant to transport things that were worth more to others that Skyfire’s life ever would be. With Starscream he’s always been more than what he was built for. He has always mattered, even when they can’t see optic to optic on certain things and disagree on the procedures for experiments, flight or lecture plans and a thousand other things.</p><p>Here, with Starscream, Skyfire is <em> real</em>. He’s <em> someone </em>and his opinions and what he says <em>matters</em>. It’s all he cares about and he never wants to go back to who he was before they met.</p><p>Starscream shakes his helm at him with a smile and pushes himself off Skyfire's chassis to stand. His legs are a little unstable and he stumbles before he can right himself, but Skyfire pretends he wasn’t looking when Starscream glances back to see if he did.</p><p>While Starscream brushes the organic planet’s vegetation off his frame, Skyfire sits up and lets his plating cover his spark again. Despite having felt safe with Starscream it still feels good to have it behind the protective layers of his chassis again.</p><p>“So,” he says once he’s decent. He leans back on a servo and gazes up at the high, calm arch of the seeker’s wings. The sky above them has darkened significantly, all the red gone from the horizon even though this system’s red sun never stays gone for long. The many stars from above are reflected in Starscream’s glossy paint and Skyfire tracks the invisible lines of the constellations they’ve discovered during their stay here all over his frame.</p><p>“So what?” Starscream asks. His turns around and puts a servo on his hip, flapping his wings to dislodge any grass that has gotten stuck on them.</p><p>“Where to next?” Skyfire asks.</p><p>Starscream purses his lips in thought and looks up at the sky.</p><p>“I might have a place in mind,” he says. “A system not too far from here. A single yellow dwarf star, nine planets and 200 moons. Four possibilities to support organic life.” He glances over his shoulder at Skyfire. “One icy ocean planet might be on the cusp creating it, if my scans are precise enough.”</p><p>Skyfire smiles at him, not blind to what he’s doing. He’s teasing Skyfire with something he knows he can’t resist. Through his entire career, Skyfire has dreamed of the opportunity to witness and study the beginning of life. This is temptation dangled in front of him from a silken cord, an offering of affection from the seeker. Starscream is here to find new fuel sources for their home planet and mark dead systems that can have their suns harvested for energon conversion. He has no interest in organics or alien biology, but Skyfire does. Skyfire is there to make sure that the system they mark doesn't hold the potential to eventually develop new life.</p><p>“It sounds like an adventure,” Skyfire says, spark swirling with joy. “We can leave tomorrow.”</p><p>“Are you becoming tired in your old age?” Starscream asks.</p><p>“No,” Skyfire says, amused.</p><p>“Why not leave now then?” Starscream asks. “What are you waiting for?”</p><p>Skyfire chuckles. “I’m afraid your intense lovemaking has exhausted me.”</p><p>Starscream snorts, but he can’t hide that little self-satisfied smirk.</p><p>“Besides,” Skyfire continues, turning his optics to the starry night sky. “It’s beautiful here. I’d like to stay a little while longer.”</p><p>Starscream looks at him for a moment before he sinks back down at his side, mirroring his pose. He leans his helm against Skyfire’s arm and sighs softly. Skyfire wraps the arm around his shoulders and hugs him close to his side.</p><p>“Okay,” Starscream relents, now watching the stars too. “Tomorrow.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you very much for reading! </p><p>  <b>If you're interested in reading a sticky fic based on the same prompt that I wrote alongside this one, I've posted it under the name <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30037185">"Treacherous Love"</a>. It's Skystar too, but has nothing to do with the universe of this fic.</b><br/> </p><p>Kudos and comments with your thoughts on the fic are very much welcome (: </p><p>Have a great day! (:</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>